Poetics and Politics in Haraldssaga Sigurðarsonar

Haraldssaga Sigurðarsonar contains many skaldic stanzas composed by different poets and by the king himself. The aim of this article is to discuss the rhetoric of self-praise and other techniques that Haraldr Sigurðarson and the skalds around him employ, examining the hypothesis of their function as rhetorical speeches. Through analyzing some skaldic stanzas of Haraldr’s, we can observe a great concern and control about the process of memorialization through the correct spreading of information regarding his deeds. It is clearly underlined the strict link between Haraldr and his brother St. Óláfr in order to present himself as the rightful heir to the Norwegian throne. It is also possible to notice a change between the stanzas composed before and those composed after Haraldr Sigurðarson’s ascent to the throne in the choice and density of kennings and of other rethorical devices mirroring his passage from being a viking to becoming king.